Category: Philanthropy

Sheriff Arpaio has engaged in so many outrageous tactics throughout his career as Sheriff that a major motion picture could be made about him. Some of the foolishness that has come about under his watch includes:

Sheriff Arpaio Got Into Trouble

Force feeding prisoners bread with mold on it

Force feeding prisoners fruit that had begun to rot

Imposing a dress code of bright pink clothing upon male inmates

Accusing innocent drivers of being “illegal aliens” based upon appearing Latin Amrican.

Refusing to accept the orders of judges who told him not to racially discriminate.

Pulling strings to go after anybody who questioned his practices.

Keeping inmates in despicable conditions.

Not tending to the individual needs of some inmates.

For years, it was a common practice for Sheriff Arpaio and his lackeys to watch who was driving on the roads and bother anyone who looked like they had Hispanic roots. In 2011, a judge took notice of this and sent an order to Sheriff Arpaio, warning him not to do this.

For roughly a couple more years Arpaio kept ordering his men in blue to do it, anyway, earning him an accusation of criminal contempt from Susan Bolton.

Sheriff Arpaio was scheduled to hear a criminal sentence sometime in 2017. A short while before this was going to happen, the conservative president of the United States, Donald Trump, slipped him a pardon.

This pardon upset a lot of people. The people who were harmed by Sheriff Arpaio, including Jim Larkin and Michael Lacey, were not satisfied by the pardon.

Jim Larkin and Michael Lacey

Jim Larkin and Michael Lacey have been involved in journalism since their college-age days in the early 1970s. They are the co-owners of Village Voice Media, a company that owned more than a dozen publications at the peak of its success.

One of the publications that they are most well known for is The Phoenix New Times. The Phoenix New Times is a relatively small, alternative, rather eccentric publication. One of the publication’s favorite topics to cover was Sheriff Arpaio. Read more: Michael Lacey | Crunchbase and Jim Larkin | Crunchbase

It stands to reason that Sheriff Arpaio would be a hot topic for that publication, considering the fact that Sheriff Arpaio was a local Sheriff in the area that the publication was serving. Lacey and Larkin, themselves, lived in this area and took a great interest in the topic.

The two men were very cognizant of the problems that Native Americans, immigrants and Latinos faced because the Southwestern United States is generally filled with these types of people.

There are so many Latinos, immigrants and Native Americans in the area due to the placement of people throughout American history. The Southwestern United States was originally colonized by Spaniards, and it now borders the lands of Latin America.

As a result, the Hispanic presence is enormous, and not all Hispanics are immigrants. There is a relatively large amount of Native American culture that exists because of circumstances surrounding Spanish colonization and the cultures of Native Americans.

In July 2017, the former County Sherriff of Maricopa County Mr. Joe Arpaio was found guilty of criminal contempt for failing to obey a preliminary court order issued by United States District Court Judge G. Murray Snow in December 2011 requiring the Sherriff, his team and his office to immediately cease their actions of targeting drivers especially the ones from Spanish and Hispanic backgrounds.

Surprisingly and even laughable is the fact that his defense for not enforcing the court injunction was that they misunderstood what was supposed to be done due to the numerous correspondences causing some confusion.

This was just one of the several instances that the Sherriff and his cronies had been accused of blatantly racial profiling people particularly the members of the Latino and Hispanic Communities, many of which they had gotten away with.

However, in this case, Judge G Murray Snow was very articulate and specific while making his ruling in which he also brought to the fore a huge number of incidents in which the Sherriff and his team had racially profiled individuals and in many of those cases lead to the victim’s basic civil rights being violated.

This is as a result of President Donald Trump’s intervention whereby he issued a presidential pardon absolving the Sherriff from all wrongdoing dealing a huge blow to all the people who had suffered in his hands including their families and friends.

According to several observers, the action by President Donald Trump was not informed by anything other than a show of solidarity with the Sherriff as a way of saying ‘thank you’ for having had his back since the days of the birther movement in which they were accusing the immediate former president of the United States Mr. Barrack Obama to having been born outside the country and therefore not deserving to be president according to the current United States Constitution. Read more: Village Voice Media | Wikipedia and Jim Larkin | Angel.co

It should also be remembered that when many people thought that Donald Trump might not make it through the Republican Party nominations, the Sherriff actually endorsed him for president as if he knew that a time would come when the president would also need to scratch his back, and it surely came.

One of the most memorable rights violation incident that always lingers in the minds of Americans whenever the name of the former Sherriff is mentioned is that of media personalities Jim Larkin and Michael Lacey whereby Mr. Joe Arpaio issued orders to have them arrested from their homes at night for having exposed a scheme by his office of trying to gag them for exposing his office’s wrongdoings and thus violating their first amendment rights.

The duo sued their aggressors and prevailed in the appellate court where they were awarded $3.75 million in settlement, monies they used to set up the Lacey and Larkin Frontera Fund which supports migrant rights groups in Arizona.

James Larkin, otherwise known as “Big Jim” or Jim Larkin, was born in Liverpool, England to Irish parents. Because of the poor state of his parents, he did not receive much education. James had to work so hard at a young age to supplement their needs. His hard work did not go in vain because he became a foreman in the London Docks.

Being a family man, James Larkin was married to Elizabeth Brown, and they had four sons. However, his activism lived on past family bounds. Because of his background which was tough, he understood how workers were unfairly treated. Being one himself, he did not wish to sit and do nothing but yearned to act. He became a full-time activist and trade unionist after joining the National Union of Dock Laborers, NUDL; in 1905.

Everywhere he went, he either formed a union or movement to aid in the advocacy. In Dublin, it was not long before he formed the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union. His aim in developing this was to unite all workers of the Irish descent. He wanted to bring them all, together irrespective of their skills, into one organization.

The Irish Labor Party was the next. He formed this with the aim of fighting for equal rights for workers. The party organized and led several strikes in Dublin. The most significant one was the Dublin Lockout of 1913. The strike went for about eight months, involving over 100,000 workers. The strike ended in 1921, and workers of Dublin earned fair employment rights.

In 1923, he was deported to Ireland after being pardoned. Being one never to stop the activism, he lived on the dream to see a world where workers were treated fairly. Back in Ireland, he formed the Workers’ Union of Ireland.

Recently, Dick DeVos and his family have made a purchase of the liquor company Coppercraft Distillery. The company is located in Holland Township and it represents the Devos family’s first foray into the world of alcohol. The purchase was made through Windquest Group, Inc which is one of the Devos’s many holding companies. This is according to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs which handles all liquor licensing for the state of Michigan. The Devos family is as well known for their privacy as they are for being generous and so they could not be reached for comment on their recent acquisition.

Coppercraft Distillery is a taproom that also functions as a micro brewer, winemaker, vendor of spirits, and a distillery. It was founded in 2013 by Walter D. Catton who allowed the acquisition because he had long been searching for an investor who could help him bring his liquor to the world. To grow a liquor company beyond the micro brewery level is very expensive, and the marketing budget required to turn it into a recognized brand is even greater. From the time the alcohol is created, it takes an additional 3 years for it to be ready to serve to customers. That is why acquisition by the DeVos’s made practical sense to Catton who is happy to be working with them. He will continue to work for the company.

Dick DeVos‘s is investing into the Coppercraft’s taproom immediately. More seating is already being built so that a greater number of people can enjoy the wine and beer in house. Also, food will be served through the new kitchen that is being built. Devos plans to expand Coppercraft all over Michigan before moving into other regions. His new company’s future is looking bright.

Dick DeVos is a wealthy business magnate and philanthropist who lives in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. He operates his businesses and his charities with the help of his family. Their total fortune is estimated to be in the billions of dollars. Devos is the founder of Amway and also the owner of the Orlando Magic basketball team. Back in 2014, the Devos family donated a total of $94 million to charity. It regularly gives sums of money that would put it at the top of Forbes magazine’s list of top philanthropists. However, the DeVos family is humble and for many years they kept the total sum of their giving private. It is estimated that in total they have given away $1.2 billion.

Keith Mann, creator of Dynamic Search Partners, held a charity fund raising event at the Standard Hotel Beer Garden. The goal was to raise money for the school’s PSAT and SAT exams. Many power players and executives came out to join the fun. At the end of the night, over $22,000 was raised. “This money guarantees that students who want to college will not have to worry about the first step,” said Mann.

The Brooklyn-based Uncommon School is in its inaugural year in Brooklyn. This year’s class will see about 75 graduates.

Mann expressed his appreciation towards Uncommon Schools and the students. “These kids are eager to learn and the vast majority will make a positive contribution to society,” said Mann. The school is one of the most modern in New York. They employ some of the most dynamic, young teachers across the nation, according to Mann.

Mann is the CEO of Dynamic Search Partners. His relationship with Uncommon Schools dates back to 2013. As a successful businessman, there isn’t a challenge that Mann won’t face. When asked to host a fundraising event, he didn’t flinch. In fact, he supported it 100 percent.

He has been in the financial industry for nearly 20 years. Trained at some of the finest hedge fund banks in the world, Mann struck out on his own and founded his own company in 2010. Through Dynamic Search Partners, he has staffed a number of agencies all over the world with highly-trained professionals.

On thing the DeVos’s know is that power and influence doesn’t always come from how much money you have — how much you give away is where the influence lies. According to a recent article in Forbes Magazine, The DeVos family is estimated to have given $1.2 billion away over a lifetime. Although Forbes ordinarily doesn’t reach such information, a little prodding did the trick. Richard DeVos says releasing the numbers will hopefully encourage more people to give.

The family is well known in Michigan for their conservative political stance. Richard “Dick” DeVos ran in the 2006 Governor’s race against as a Republican against incumbent Democrat Jennifer Granholm but lost.

While Forbes lists how much money a family gives, it doesn’t tell exactly where all the money went. According to 2013 IRS records, the bulk of their giving went to education. In fact, 48% went to education, 27% to health and community services, 13% to faith-based organizations and 12% to the arts.

American Enterprise Institute, The Heritage Foundation and Mackinaw Center were given six-figure donations.

The family has five separate foundations. Each of Richard DeVoses four children have a foundation. The elder DeVos and his wife run the Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation. At times, all five foundations work together to attain a goal.

A number of charities are singing the praises of the DeVos family. The South Division Avenue Ministry is able to feed and clothe people. They offer other services such as helping individuals find jobs and get identification. Mel Trotter, spokesperson for the ministry says that they wouldn’t be in existence now if not for the generosity of the DeVos family.